On the occasion of Africa Day 2018, Jay Naidoo, a former minister in Nelson Mandela’s cabinet during South Africa’s first post-apartheid government, reflected on the state of the continent. “We are exhausted by the talk, talk and talk. Our lives are littered with the broken promises of leaders. Our current leaders are out of touch. We are the richest continent under the ground but we are the poorest in the world. It’s time for leadership and governance. It’s time the older generation moved out of the way,” he wrote. Read on

According to the World Press Freedom Index 2018, which ranks 180 countries worldwide, the level of media freedom was categorised as “fairly good” in three West African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde and Ghana. These countries achieved better or similar scores than many OECD member countries. Read on

The 2018 Mo Ibrahim Forum Report paints a very poor picture of the state of Africa’s public services. The reports covers a variety of sectors -- from safety and security, health, education, climate change to justice -- and illustrates these issues with facts and figures. Nearly all African governments fail to deliver essential public services to their citizens; the demand for quality services is quickly rising, particularly in urban settings. A majority of African citizens are in favour of paying for public services. Read on

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, UNESCO launched a new global report offering a critical analysis of four key dimensions of press freedom: media freedom, media pluralism, media independence and safety of journalists. Read on